Customer Reviews

Coby CX-49 AM/FM Stereo Cassette Player

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(30)

 

 

My Sony Walkman finally stopped playing tapes, although the radio still works, after many months of books on tape and radio that gets me through housework, gardening and other chores. But, the only cassette recorder I could find when I went to replace it was this Coby CX-49. Halfway through a book and desperate to keep going, I bought it. The radio never gets in my favorite station without static (the old half-dead Sony is about a billion times clearer) and after owning the Coby for six days, I was sitting still in a chair when suddenly the tape starts distorting - turns out that, despite fresh batteries, one of the spindles has stopped turning. And it never started again. Don't waste your money like I wasted mine. I am now scouring the web for a stash of Sony Walkman cassette players I can buy up and hoard, because Coby is no substitute.

This super-cheapy machine is sold under at least two brands that I know of: Coby and Craig. I purchased some old audio books only available on cassette and it had been years since I had had a Walkman, so I purchased one of these. The device plays AM, FM and cassettes.

The indicator for the radio tuner is virtually invisible, but possibly it's an assembly variation. Reception on the two broadcast bands is average, nothing exceptional.

Cassette performance is quite poor. First, there is an electrical buzz in the background. I switched headsets and it remains. Worse, the speed at which the cassette turns varies quite dramatically, even with the same tape. Part of the time, turning the tape on and off will correct the problem, usually not. The music and audio tapes that have exhibited this problem have run well on other cassette units. At least for audio work, it's only irritating. It would be maddening with music tapes.

Battery life appears average.

For this price, of course it's Chinese-made. It is a minimal machine and performs to its price.

I wasn't even going to give this one star but have to select something. I've been though a lot of personal cassette players, from the most expensive to low end. None of them survive being dropped without some problems. I decided to buy this one because it was so inexpensive, figuring it was a throw-away once it was dropped. However, the sound quality is terrible, plus the speed varies, even when I switch batteries. Luckily, I purchased it locally and I'm returning it. Save your sanity and $$... this is JUNK.

for a portable radio cassette, it passes muster. had it about a month. gets decent reception of those harder to get stations, say npr from over the hill for example. craftsmanship is what you'd expect from a player of this cost. my last portable radio cassette lasted 10 years for half the price, a "york" product. this works if you don't want to shell out hundreds for a portable fm mp3.

On the plus side, it plays cassettes. The negatives: no rewind feature; seriously poor sound quality with lots of background noise; frequently won't play a tape until it has been removed and replaced a few times; loose belt clip doesn't stay fixed to pockets well. All in all, not worth the five bucks.

Its works fine without any technical problems. Exterior craftman ship is not good. very cheap is what you get.

I bought this only for the cassette option. I needed it only to listen to study lectures...lasted only 4 hours. First, it kept shutting off automatically then it just plain wouldn't work. Sound was poor also...kept popping. Thought it was the poor quality headphones so I exchanged it for better earbuds...still the same popping noise. Don't waste your time or money on this. Very frustrating. Amazon was good to work with, refund was easy and fast.

I bought this for my mom to listen to the Bible tapes that I reviewed previously. Unfortunately it did not work, but then it was very cheap, primarily I think because no uses cassettes much anymore, but I felt it would work for my elderly parent.
When I tried it, with new batteries) it never went forward backward or played a tape.

I don't normally write negative reviews and usually find some redeeming quality in a product, but this one did not work for me and I had to end up buying another more expensive one at a local convenience store.
It looked pretty but it just didn't work.

I gave this product a 4-star rating mostly because of its price-to-performance ratio.

I recently decided to honorably retire (or use as a spare) a similar unit which I bought for $17 during my student days more than 20 years ago and which still works well despite its beaten-up appearance. I also thought it may be the richt time to stock up on "old fashioned" tape-playing gadgets before they become scarce.

I was surprised to find a new model similar to my old player at a 1980s price. Until now I have used my new purchase mostly with DC power as an auxiliary input to external amplifiers and/or speakers indoors.

So far the player has worked more than adequate. The sound output signal is of satisfactory quality, although I prefer to enhance it with some extra base through my amplifier (at home). Radio reception is not great but o.k. keeping in mind that AM & FM reception by most portable radios is quite a bit dependent on location and orientation.

On the downside (a) there are no novelties in its design and features (b) an old fashioned rotary dial for radio tuning, which makes precise tuning of stations cumbersome (c) I have noticed occasional variations in the tape playing speed (rotation of the tape drive) (d) no carrying case or other precautions against "roughing up" in its design or craftsmanship.

For the price of a quick lunch at a fast food parlor, this is a versatile unit which, with proper use, can provide functionality that costs many times over.

Do not order this product! Out of the box the cassette player did not work. The FM radio works but you can barely hear it through the head phones. A piece of junk, like the saying goes you get what you pay for.